Visualizing the Opioid Epidemic: Lessons Learned From a Dozen Years of Engaging Communities With Data.

Abstract

With a 200% increase in the rate of opioidinvolved deaths since 2000, many US states and the federal government have declared states of public health emergency. Government responses to the epidemic include focused research on and treatment of opioid dependence and system-level interventions and policies to reduce overdose. As part of this work, various local and state health departments are developing opioid data dashboards containing visualizations, descriptive information, and downloadable data or reports. Opioid data dashboards can potentially improve our understanding of the opioid epidemic, facilitate community planning, promote evidence-based decision making, and support monitoring and evaluation. Yet, will these data dashboards meet these goals? Past experience from working with local and state health departments has shown that government resources are primarily devoted to collecting and using data for analysis, rather than for communication or orienting communities toward action. As health agencies develop opioid data dashboards, we offer 10 recommendations for improving data-driven communication about the opioid epidemic. These are based on our experience studying and promoting open data platforms, working on data dashboard platforms, and consulting with government agencies and others in their data orbit (eg, foundations, nonprofits, university research centers) about data communication strategies.